What is the Crooked Road?
The Crooked Road is a music heritage trail that runs along the southwest region of Virginia in and around the Appalachian Mountains. It is home to many bluegrass/old time musicians, music venues, and other musically historical sites. This trail follows US route 58, starting in Franklin County, Virginia and ending in Dickenson, Virginia. Music along this trail has rural influence with bluegrass, old-time, country, and gospel. It also has generational influence; music on this trail has been passed down through generations to keep the heritage alive. The purpose of my annotated mix tape is to display the influence of Virginia’s heritage on artists/musicians around the area and also those from outside of Virginia. Many of these songs have a connection with the crooked road due to the artist being from a geographically relevant location, while some songs have a connection to the crooked road merely through the content.
What does the Crooked Road look like?
Franklin County:
- Blue Ridge Institute and Farm Museum (Ferrum)
- Blue Ridge Folklife festival
- Harvester Performance Center
- Annual Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival
Floyd County:
- Floyd Country Store
- Floydfest
- Street Jams
- Mountain Fever Records
- First Sunday Jazz Series
Carroll County:
- The Fiddle & The Plow
- Blue Ridge Music Center (Galax)
- Fancy Gap Pickin’ Porch
Grayson County
- Old Time and Bluegrass Fiddler’s Convention
- Cabin Creek Musical Instruments
- Donley Violins
- Earth Mama Artisan Music
- Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition (Grayson Highlands State Park)
- Annual Gospel Sing (Grayson Highlands State Park)
Washington County:
- Crooked Road Youth Music Festival (Heartwood)
- Music on The Lawn (various artists participate)
- Richard Leigh Songwriters Festival
- Thursday Jams Concert Series in Abingdon
- Mountains of Music Homecoming (various venues along the crooked road)
Bristol:
- Birthplace of Country Music Museum
- Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion
- Second Sunday Concert Series
Scott County:
- Carter Family Fold
- A.P. Carter Museum
Wise County:
- Mountain Music School
- Gathering in the Gap Music Festival
- Clinch River Days Festival
- Lays Hardware Jam Sessions
- Friday Night Bluegrass (Hardware Center for the Arts)
- Mountains of Music Homecoming
- Country Cabin (Norton)
- Birth place of Ralph Stanley (Coeburn)
Dickenson County:
- Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center (Clintwood)
My Playlist:
track 1 – Raining in Virginia by Breaking Grass
– Breaking Grass is an all-male bluegrass band composed of five members from around Mississippi
– Mountain Fever Records (Floyd)
– Song makes allusion to Virginia
track 2 – Can’t Sing a Sad Song by After Jack
– After Jack is a female-dominated bluegrass band with 3 members (2 sisters)
– Often found singing around the Crooked Road trail – Floyd Country Store
– represent mix of bluegrass, folk, old-time, story-telling, and other variations of “mountain music”
track 3 – Blue Ridge Mountain Blues by The Stoneman Family
– Stoneman family began with Ernest “Pop” Stoneman – Carroll County, VA
– recorded at Bristol Sessions in 1927 in Bristol VA
– Roots in SWVA
– demonstration of generation in bluegrass music
track 4 – Carroll County Blues by Doc & Merle Watson
– carroll county is significant on the trail
track 5 – Hesitation Blues by The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters
track 6 – My Old Home’s In White Top Mountain by White Top Mountain Band
track 7 – Echoes of The Blue Ridge by White Top Mountain Band
track 8 – My Dixie Darling by The Carter Family
track 9 – Border Ride by Jim & Jesse McReynolds
track 10 – Dixieland (My Old Hometown) by Ralph Stanley
(maybe?) track 11 – Down The Crooked Road by The Dixie Bee-Liners
Sources:
– Youtube
– myswva.org
– Virginia.org
– blueridgeinstitute.org
– www.myswva.org/tcr
Spotify
spotify:user:1278880418:playlist:3bK888bYOf3uELnn0YGsW1